Message reminder interface

ABSTRACT

A message reminder system, to perform operations that include: causing display of a presentation of a message addressed to a user, at a first position among a message feed of the user at a client device; receiving a request to open the message from the user of the client device, the request including a timestamp; detecting a trigger event based on at least the timestamp of the request to open the message, the trigger event comprising event attributes; generating a notification to be applied to the presentation of the message, the notification based on at least the event attributes of the trigger event; moving the presentation of the message from the first position among the message feed to a second position among the message feed; and applying the notification to the presentation of the message.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to graphical userinterfaces, and more specifically to interface elements presented withingraphical user interfaces.

BACKGROUND

A graphical user interface (GUI) is a form of user interface that allowsusers to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons andvisual indicators instead of purely text-based user interfaces, typedcommand labels, or text navigation.

Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat that offersreal-time text transmission over the Internet. Short messages aretypically transmitted between parties through respective client devicesand presented within GUIs. Some IM applications can use push technologyto provide real-time text, which transmits messages character bycharacter, as they are composed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, themost significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to thefigure number in which that element is first introduced.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a networkin accordance with some embodiments, wherein the messaging systemincludes a message reminder system.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating further details regarding amessaging system, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating various modules of a messagereminder system, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for presenting a messagereminder, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for presenting a messagereminder, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method for presenting a messagereminder, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 7 is an interface diagram depicting a message reminder interface,according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram depicting a user identifier to be presented ina message reminder interface, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a representative softwarearchitecture, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described and used to implement variousembodiments.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As discussed above, GUIs are a form of user interface that allows usersto interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and visualindicators instead of purely text-based user interfaces, typed commandlabels, or text navigation. Messaging applications typically presentmessages to users within GUI configured to present a list of messagesreceived by the user. These messages are often presented inchronological order, as the user receives them.

As reliance on messaging applications increases, the velocity in whichusers may send and receive messages also increases, resulting in largenumbers of messages being presented within a message feed of a GUI at aclient device. Recipients of these messages may often forget to reply toa message as a result of the rate in which messages are received.Accordingly, a system to determine when a user may have forgotten torespond to a message in order to provide reminders is discussed herein.

Example embodiments described herein relate to systems and methods for amessage reminder system, to perform operations that include: causingdisplay of a presentation of a message addressed to a user, at a firstposition among a message feed of the user at a client device; receivinga request to open the message from the user of the client device, therequest including a timestamp; detecting a trigger event based on atleast the timestamp of the request to open the message, the triggerevent comprising event attributes; generating a notification to beapplied to the presentation of the message, the notification based on atleast the event attributes of the trigger event; moving the presentationof the message from the first position among the message feed to asecond position among the message feed; and applying the notification tothe presentation of the message.

Trigger events may be defined as the presence of one or more signalsthat indicate a user may have forgotten to reply to a message. Thetrigger events may each be defined by a corresponding set of triggerconditions. For example, if a user opens a chat message from a sender,does not reply to the message, and:

-   -   The user saved the last message received from the sender, or;    -   The user did not complete the loading of the latest message the        user received (resulting in an error), or;    -   The user has not sent a message to the sender of the message        within a threshold period of time from the sender sending the        message to the user, or;    -   The message received by the user ends contains predefined        trigger content, such as a question mark, or a specific text        string, or;    -   The message transgresses a threshold size (i.e., number of        words, or MB), and;    -   It has been a threshold period of time since the user opened the        message from the sender.

Responsive to detecting a trigger event based on a set of triggerconditions, the message reminder system identifies a messagecorresponding to the trigger event and moves a presentation of themessage from a first position among a set of messages to a secondposition among the set of messages. The first position may for examplebe chronological based on a timestamp associated with the message, andthe second position may be at a most visible position at the top of themessage feed.

In some embodiments, the presentation of the message may include adisplay of an identifier associated with a sender of the message. Theidentifier may include a username, as well as a graphical icon, such asa user avatar. In some embodiments, the message reminder system mayalter the display of the user identifier based on attributes of thetrigger event. For example, the trigger event may include one or moreevent attributes such as a period of time since the user has opened amessage without responding to the message. As the period of timetransgresses one or more threshold values, the message reminder systemmay modify the user identifier based on the one or more thresholdvalues.

As an illustrative example, the user identifier may include a graphicaluser avatar depicting a face. As the period of time transgresses a firstthreshold value, the graphical user avatar may be modified to appeardisappointed. As the period of time transgresses a second thresholdvalue, the graphical avatar may be modified to appear sad. As the periodof time transgresses a third threshold, the graphical avatar may bemodified to appear angry.

In some embodiments, the message reminder system may generate a remindernotification to be applied to the display of the message among a set ofmessages. The reminder notification may include one or more of the eventattributes of the trigger event, such as a period of that that haspassed since the user opened a message without responding.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system 100 forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network.The messaging system 100 includes multiple client devices 102, each ofwhich hosts a number of applications including a messaging clientapplication 104. Each messaging client application 104 iscommunicatively coupled to other instances of the messaging clientapplication 104 and a messaging server system 108 via a network 106(e.g., the Internet).

Accordingly, each messaging client application 104 is able tocommunicate and exchange data with another messaging client application104 and with the messaging server system 108 via the network 106. Thedata exchanged between messaging client applications 104, and between amessaging client application 104 and the messaging server system 108,includes functions (e.g., commands to invoke functions) as well aspayload data (e.g., text, audio, video or other multimedia data).

The messaging server system 108 provides server-side functionality viathe network 106 to a particular messaging client application 104. Whilecertain functions of the messaging system 100 are described herein asbeing performed by either a messaging client application 104 or by themessaging server system 108, it will be appreciated that the location ofcertain functionality either within the messaging client application 104or the messaging server system 108 is a design choice. For example, itmay be technically preferable to initially deploy certain technology andfunctionality within the messaging server system 108, but to latermigrate this technology and functionality to the messaging clientapplication 104 where a client device 102 has a sufficient processingcapacity.

The messaging server system 108 supports various services and operationsthat are provided to the messaging client application 104. Suchoperations include transmitting data to, receiving data from, andprocessing data generated by the messaging client application 104. Insome embodiments, this data includes, message content, client deviceinformation, geolocation information, media annotation and overlays,message content persistence conditions, social network information, andlive event information, as examples. In other embodiments, other data isused. Data exchanges within the messaging system 100 are invoked andcontrolled through functions available via GUIs of the messaging clientapplication 104.

Turning now specifically to the messaging server system 108, anApplication Program Interface (API) server 110 is coupled to, andprovides a programmatic interface to, an application server 112. Theapplication server 112 is communicatively coupled to a database server118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which is stored dataassociated with messages processed by the application server 112.

Dealing specifically with the Application Program Interface (API) server110, this server receives and transmits message data (e.g., commands andmessage payloads) between the client device 102 and the applicationserver 112. Specifically, the Application Program Interface (API) server110 provides a set of interfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that canbe called or queried by the messaging client application 104 in order toinvoke functionality of the application server 112. The ApplicationProgram Interface (API) server 110 exposes various functions supportedby the application server 112, including account registration, loginfunctionality, the sending of messages, via the application server 112,from a particular messaging client application 104 to another messagingclient application 104, the sending of media files (e.g., images orvideo) from a messaging client application 104 to the messaging serverapplication 114, and for possible access by another messaging clientapplication 104, the setting of a collection of media data (e.g.,story), the retrieval of a list of friends of a user of a client device102, the retrieval of such collections, the retrieval of messages andcontent, the adding and deletion of friends to a social graph, thelocation of friends within a social graph, opening and application event(e.g., relating to the messaging client application 104).

The application server 112 hosts a number of applications andsubsystems, including a messaging server application 114, an imageprocessing system 116, a social network system 122, and a messagereminder system 124. The messaging server application 114 implements anumber of message processing technologies and functions, particularlyrelated to the aggregation and other processing of content (e.g.,textual and multimedia content) included in messages received frommultiple instances of the messaging client application 104. As will bedescribed in further detail, the text and media content from multiplesources may be aggregated into collections of content (e.g., calledstories, galleries, or collections). These collections are then madeavailable, by the messaging server application 114, to the messagingclient application 104. Other processor and memory intensive processingof data may also be performed server-side by the messaging serverapplication 114, in view of the hardware requirements for suchprocessing.

The application server 112 also includes an image processing system 116that is dedicated to performing various image processing operations,typically with respect to images or video received within the payload ofa message at the messaging server application 114.

The social network system 122 supports various social networkingfunctions services and makes these functions and services available tothe messaging server application 114. To this end, the social networksystem 122 maintains and accesses an entity graph 304 within thedatabase 120. Examples of functions and services supported by the socialnetwork system 122 include the identification of other users of themessaging system 100 with which a particular user has relationships oris “following,” and also the identification of other entities andinterests of a particular user.

The application server 112 is communicatively coupled to a databaseserver 118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which isstored data associated with messages processed by the messaging serverapplication 114.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating further details regarding themessaging system 100, according to example embodiments. Specifically,the messaging system 100 is shown to comprise the messaging clientapplication 104 and the application server 112, which in turn embody anumber of some subsystems, namely an ephemeral timer system 202, acollection management system 204 and an annotation system 206.

The ephemeral timer system 202 is responsible for enforcing thetemporary access to content permitted by the messaging clientapplication 104 and the messaging server application 114. To this end,the ephemeral timer system 202 incorporates a number of timers that,based on duration and display parameters associated with a message,collection of messages, or graphical element, selectively display andenable access to messages and associated content via the messagingclient application 104. Further details regarding the operation of theephemeral timer system 202 are provided below.

The collection management system 204 is responsible for managingcollections of media (e.g., a media collection that includes collectionsof text, image video and audio data). In some examples, a collection ofcontent (e.g., messages, including images, video, text and audio) may beorganized into an “event gallery” or an “event story.” Such a collectionmay be made available for a specified time period, such as the durationof an event to which the content relates. For example, content relatingto a music concert may be made available as a “story” for the durationof that music concert. The collection management system 204 may also beresponsible for publishing an icon that provides notification of theexistence of a particular collection to the user interface of themessaging client application 104.

The collection management system 204 furthermore includes a curationinterface 208 that allows a collection manager to manage and curate aparticular collection of content. For example, the curation interface208 enables an event organizer to curate a collection of contentrelating to a specific event (e.g., delete inappropriate content orredundant messages). Additionally, the collection management system 204employs machine vision (or image recognition technology) and contentrules to automatically curate a content collection. In certainembodiments, compensation may be paid to a user for inclusion of usergenerated content into a collection. In such cases, the curationinterface 208 operates to automatically make payments to such users forthe use of their content.

The annotation system 206 provides various functions that enable a userto annotate or otherwise modify or edit media content, such as usersupport content received by the user to be forwarded or redistributed toone or more recipients. For example, the annotation system 206 providesfunctions related to the generation and publishing of media overlays formessages processed by the messaging system 100. The annotation system206 operatively supplies a media overlay to the messaging clientapplication 104 based on a geolocation of the client device 102. Inanother example, the annotation system 206 operatively supplies a mediaoverlay to the messaging client application 104 based on otherinformation, such as, social network information of the user of theclient device 102. A media overlay may include audio and visual contentand visual effects, as well as augmented reality overlays. Examples ofaudio and visual content include pictures, texts, logos, animations, andsound effects, as well as animated facial models, image filters, andaugmented reality media content. An example of a visual effect includescolor overlaying. The audio and visual content or the visual effects canbe applied to a media content item (e.g., a photo or video or livestream) at the client device 102. For example, the media overlayincluding text that can be overlaid on top of a photograph generatedtaken by the client device 102. In another example, the media overlayincludes an identification of a location overlay (e.g., Venice beach), aname of a live event, or a name of a merchant overlay (e.g., BeachCoffee House). In another example, the annotation system 206 uses thegeolocation of the client device 102 to identify a media overlay thatincludes the name of a merchant at the geolocation of the client device102. The media overlay may include other indicia associated with themerchant. The media overlays may be stored in the database 120 andaccessed through the database server 118.

In one example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides auser-based publication platform that enables users to select ageolocation on a map, and upload content associated with the selectedgeolocation. The user may also specify circumstances under which aparticular media overlay should be offered to other users. Theannotation system 206 generates a media overlay that includes theuploaded content and associates the uploaded content with the selectedgeolocation.

In another example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides amerchant-based publication platform that enables merchants to select aparticular media overlay associated with a geolocation. For example, theannotation system 206 associates the media overlay of a highest biddingmerchant with a corresponding geolocation for a predefined amount oftime

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of the messagereminder system 124 that configure the message reminder system 124 toperform operations that include: causing display of a presentation of amessage addressed to a user, at a first position among a message feed ofthe user at a client device; receiving a request to open the messagefrom the user of the client device, the request including a timestamp;detecting a trigger event based on at least the timestamp of the requestto open the message, the trigger event comprising event attributes;generating a notification to be applied to the presentation of themessage, the notification based on at least the event attributes of thetrigger event; moving the presentation of the message from the firstposition among the message feed to a second position among the messagefeed; and applying the notification to the presentation of the message.

The message reminder system 124 is shown as including a messaging module302, a trigger event module 304, a reminder module 306, and a userprofile module 308, all configured to communicate with each other (e.g.,via a bus, shared memory, or a switch). Any one or more of these modulesmay be implemented using one or more processors 310 (e.g., byconfiguring such one or more processors to perform functions describedfor that module) and hence may include one or more of the processors310.

Any one or more of the modules described may be implemented usinghardware alone (e.g., one or more of the processors 310 of a machine) ora combination of hardware and software. For example, any moduledescribed of the message reminder system 124 may physically include anarrangement of one or more of the processors 310 (e.g., a subset of oramong the one or more processors of the machine) configured to performthe operations described herein for that module. As another example, anymodule of the message reminder system 124 may include software,hardware, or both, that configure an arrangement of one or moreprocessors 310 (e.g., among the one or more processors of the machine)to perform the operations described herein for that module. Accordingly,different modules of the message reminder system 124 may include andconfigure different arrangements of such processors 310 or a singlearrangement of such processors 310 at different points in time.Moreover, any two or more modules of the message reminder system 124 maybe combined into a single module, and the functions described herein fora single module may be subdivided among multiple modules. Furthermore,according to various example embodiments, modules described herein asbeing implemented within a single machine, database, or device may bedistributed across multiple machines, databases, or devices.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method 400 for presenting a messagereminder, according to certain example embodiments. Operations of themethod 400 may be performed by the modules described above with respectto FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 4, the method 400 includes one or moreoperations 402, 404, 406, 408, 410, and 412.

At operation 402, the messaging module 302 causes display of apresentation of a message at a first position among a message feed at aclient device 102. For example, the message may be received by the userof the client device 102 from a sender associated with the message andmay be presented in the message feed chronologically based on a time inwhich the user received the message.

At operation 404, the messaging module 302 receives a request to openthe message from the client device 102, wherein the request to open themessage comprises a timestamp. The user may then forget to (or simplychoose not to) reply to the message and close the message.

At operation 406, the trigger event module 304 detects a trigger eventbased on at least the timestamp of the request, wherein the triggerevent comprises event attributes. The event attributes may for exampleinclude a period of time since the user opened the message (based on therequest to open the message), content of the message, and a loadingstatus of the message. For example, the loading status may indicate anerror in loading the message (i.e., the message content of the messagedid not completely load at the client device 102).

At operation 408, the reminder module 306 and the user profile module308 generate a notification to be applied to the presentation of themessage in response to the trigger event module 304 detecting thetrigger event, wherein the notification is based on the event attributesof the trigger event.

For example, the notification may comprise a display of a useridentifier associated with the sender of the message, as well as anindication of a period of time since the user received the message, anda period of time since the request to open the message.

At operation 410, the messaging module 302 moves the presentation of themessage from the first position among the set of messages of the messagefeed to a second position among the set of messages of the message feed.For example, the second position may be a top-most position typicallyreserved for the “most recent” chronological message. At operation 412the messaging module 302 applies the notification to the presentation ofthe message.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method 500 for presenting a messagereminder, according to certain example embodiments. Operations of themethod 500 may be performed by the modules described above with respectto FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 5, the method 500 includes one or moreoperations 502, and 504 which may be performed as a part of operation406 of the method 400 depicted in FIG. 4.

At operation 502, the trigger event module 304 identifies a triggercondition based on at least the message content of the message. Forexample the message content of the message may comprise a word count, adata size, as well as one or more text characters and glyphs. In someembodiments, a trigger event may include a set of trigger conditionsbased on the message content of the message. As an illustrative example,the presence of a question mark may be a trigger condition. Similarly, aword count or data size that transgresses a threshold value may be atrigger condition.

In some embodiments, as discussed above, the trigger conditions may alsocomprise one or more of the following conditions:

-   -   The user saved the last message received from the sender, or;    -   The user did not complete the loading of the latest message the        user received, or;    -   The user has not sent a message to the sender of the message        within a threshold period of time from the sender sending the        message to the user, or;    -   The message received by the user ends contains predefined        trigger content, such as a question mark, or a specific text        string, or;    -   The message transgresses a threshold size (i.e., number of        words, or MB), and;    -   It has been a threshold period of time since the user opened the        message from the sender.

At operation 504, the trigger event module 304 determines a period oftime since the request to open the message transgresses a thresholdvalue based on the timestamp of the request to open the message.

At operation 406 of the method 400, the trigger event module 304 detectsthe trigger event responsive to the identification of the triggercondition, and the determination that the period of time transgressesthe threshold value.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method 600 for presenting a messagereminder, according to certain example embodiments. Operations of themethod 600 may be performed by the modules described above with respectto FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 6, the method 600 includes one or moreoperations 602, and 604 which may be performed as a part of operation408 of the method 400 depicted in FIG. 4.

At operation 602, the user profile module 308 accesses an avatarassociated with a sender of a message in response to the trigger eventmodule 304 detecting the trigger event, wherein the avatar comprises aplurality of graphical elements. For example, the sender may provideinputs to define the avatar by selecting each of the plurality ofgraphical elements.

At operation 604, the reminder module 306 configures the plurality ofgraphical elements based on the event attributes of the trigger event.For example, the event attribute may include a period of time since therequest to open the message, as well as a word count of the message.

At operation 606, the reminder module 306 presents the configured avatarat a position within the notification at the client device 102.

FIG. 7 is an interface diagram 700 depicting a message reminderinterface 705, according to certain example embodiments, and asdescribed in the methods 400, 500, and 600 as depicted in FIGS. 4, 5,and 6.

As seen in the interface diagram 700, a presentation of a message 710may be moved from a first position among the set of messages 720 to asecond position among the set of messages 720 responsive to thedetection of a trigger event.

As discussed in the method 600, the presentation of the message 710 mayinclude a display of a user identifier, such as the user avatar 715,wherein the user avatar 715 may be configured based on event attributesof the trigger event. For example, the user avatar may be modified basedon a period of time that has passed since the user opened the message.FIG. 8 provides an illustration of how the user avatar 715 may bemodified based on the period of time.

As seen in FIG. 7, the graphical elements of the user avatar 715 mayinitially be configured as depicted in the user avatar state 715A.Responsive to detecting the period of time since opening the messagetransgress a first threshold value, the user avatar 715 may beconfigured as depicted in the user avatar state 715B. Similarly,responsive to detecting the period of time transgress a second thresholdvalue, the user avatar 715 may be configured as depicted in the useravatar state 715C.

Software Architecture

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture906, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described. FIG. 9 is a non-limiting example of asoftware architecture and it will be appreciated that many otherarchitectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 906 may execute on hardwaresuch as the machine 1000 of FIG. 10 that includes, among other things,processors 1004, memory 1014, and I/O components 1018. A representativehardware layer 952 is illustrated and can represent, for example, themachine 900 of FIG. 9. The representative hardware layer 952 includes aprocessing unit 954 having associated executable instructions 904.Executable instructions 904 represent the executable instructions of thesoftware architecture 906, including implementation of the methods,components and so forth described herein. The hardware layer 952 alsoincludes memory and/or storage modules memory/storage 956, which alsohave executable instructions 904. The hardware layer 952 may alsocomprise other hardware 958.

In the example architecture of FIG. 9, the software architecture 906 maybe conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 906 mayinclude layers such as an operating system 902, libraries 920,applications 916 and a presentation layer 914. Operationally, theapplications 916 and/or other components within the layers may invokeapplication programming interface (API) API calls 908 through thesoftware stack and receive a response as in response to the API calls908. The layers illustrated are representative in nature and not allsoftware architectures have all layers. For example, some mobile orspecial purpose operating systems may not provide aframeworks/middleware 918, while others may provide such a layer. Othersoftware architectures may include additional or different layers.

The operating system 902 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 902 may include, for example, akernel 922, services 924 and drivers 926. The kernel 922 may act as anabstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 922 may be responsible for memory management,processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management,networking, security settings, and so on. The services 924 may provideother common services for the other software layers. The drivers 926 areresponsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware.For instance, the drivers 926 include display drivers, camera drivers,Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers(e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi® drivers, audiodrivers, power management drivers, and so forth depending on thehardware configuration.

The libraries 920 provide a common infrastructure that is used by theapplications 916 and/or other components and/or layers. The libraries920 provide functionality that allows other software components toperform tasks in an easier fashion than to interface directly with theunderlying operating system 902 functionality (e.g., kernel 922,services 924 and/or drivers 926). The libraries 920 may include systemlibraries 944 (e.g., C standard library) that may provide functions suchas memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions,mathematical functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 920 mayinclude API libraries 946 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries tosupport presentation and manipulation of various media format such asMPREG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphics libraries (e.g., anOpenGL framework that may be used to render 2D and 3D in a graphiccontent on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite that may providevarious relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit thatmay provide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries 920may also include a wide variety of other libraries 948 to provide manyother APIs to the applications 916 and other softwarecomponents/modules.

The frameworks/middleware 918 (also sometimes referred to as middleware)provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may be used by theapplications 916 and/or other software components/modules. For example,the frameworks/middleware 918 may provide various graphic user interface(GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware 918 may provide abroad spectrum of other APIs that may be utilized by the applications916 and/or other software components/modules, some of which may bespecific to a particular operating system 902 or platform.

The applications 916 include built-in applications 938 and/orthird-party applications 940. Examples of representative built-inapplications 938 may include, but are not limited to, a contactsapplication, a browser application, a book reader application, alocation application, a media application, a messaging application,and/or a game application. Third-party applications 940 may include anapplication developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software developmentkit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform,and may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such asIOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. Thethird-party applications 940 may invoke the API calls 908 provided bythe mobile operating system (such as operating system 902) to facilitatefunctionality described herein.

The applications 916 may use built in operating system functions (e.g.,kernel 922, services 924 and/or drivers 926), libraries 920, andframeworks/middleware 918 to create user interfaces to interact withusers of the system. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systemsinteractions with a user may occur through a presentation layer, such aspresentation layer 914. In these systems, the application/component“logic” can be separated from the aspects of the application/componentthat interact with a user.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 1000,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically. FIG. 10 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine1000 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions1010 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 1000 to perform any oneor more of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such,the instructions 1010 may be used to implement modules or componentsdescribed herein. The instructions 1010 transform the general,non-programmed machine 1000 into a particular machine 1000 programmed tocarry out the described and illustrated functions in the mannerdescribed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 1000 operates as astandalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines.In a networked deployment, the machine 1000 may operate in the capacityof a server machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 1000 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, acellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device(e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance),other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing theinstructions 1010, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to betaken by machine 1000. Further, while only a single machine 1000 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 1010 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

The machine 1000 may include processors 1004, memory memory/storage1006, and I/O components 1018, which may be configured to communicatewith each other such as via a bus 1002. The memory/storage 1006 mayinclude a memory 1014, such as a main memory, or other memory storage,and a storage unit 1016, both accessible to the processors 1004 such asvia the bus 1002. The storage unit 1016 and memory 1014 store theinstructions 1010 embodying any one or more of the methodologies orfunctions described herein. The instructions 1010 may also reside,completely or partially, within the memory 1014, within the storage unit1016, within at least one of the processors 1004 (e.g., within theprocessor's cache memory), or any suitable combination thereof, duringexecution thereof by the machine 1000. Accordingly, the memory 1014, thestorage unit 1016, and the memory of processors 1004 are examples ofmachine-readable media.

The I/O components 1018 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 1018 that are included in a particular machine 1000 willdepend on the type of machine. For example, portable machines such asmobile phones will likely include a touch input device or other suchinput mechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely notinclude such a touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/Ocomponents 1018 may include many other components that are not shown inFIG. 10. The I/O components 1018 are grouped according to functionalitymerely for simplifying the following discussion and the grouping is inno way limiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 1018may include output components 1026 and input components 1028. The outputcomponents 1026 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., avibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 1028 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 1018 may includebiometric components 1030, motion components 1034, environmentalenvironment components 1036, or position components 1038 among a widearray of other components. For example, the biometric components 1030may include components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions,facial expressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking),measure biosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 1034 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environment components 1036 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometer that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment. The position components 1038 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., a Global Position system (GPS)receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters orbarometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 1018 may include communication components 1040operable to couple the machine 1000 to a network 1032 or devices 1020via coupling 1022 and coupling 1024 respectively. For example, thecommunication components 1040 may include a network interface componentor other suitable device to interface with the network 1032. In furtherexamples, communication components 1040 may include wired communicationcomponents, wireless communication components, cellular communicationcomponents, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth®components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and othercommunication components to provide communication via other modalities.The devices 1020 may be another machine or any of a wide variety ofperipheral devices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a UniversalSerial Bus (USB)).

Moreover, the communication components 1040 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 1040 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components. NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code. Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components1040, such as, location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location,location via Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFCbeacon signal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

Glossary

“CARRIER SIGNAL” in this context refers to any intangible medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution bythe machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals orother intangible medium to facilitate communication of suchinstructions.

Instructions may be transmitted or received over the network using atransmission medium via a network interface device and using any one ofa number of well-known transfer protocols.

“CLIENT DEVICE” in this context refers to any machine that interfaces toa communications network to obtain resources from one or more serversystems or other client devices. A client device may be, but is notlimited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digitalassistants (PDAs), smart phones, tablets, ultra books, netbooks,laptops, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any othercommunication device that a user may use to access a network.

“COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK” in this context refers to one or more portionsof a network that may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, avirtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wirelessLAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of theInternet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), aplain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network,or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, a network ora portion of a network may include a wireless or cellular network andthe coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, aGlobal System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or other typeof cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling mayimplement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such asSingle Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-DataOptimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology,third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourthgeneration wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE)standard, others defined by various standard setting organizations,other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology.

“EMPHEMERAL MESSAGE” in this context refers to a message that isaccessible for a time-limited duration. An ephemeral message may be atext, an image, a video and the like. The access time for the ephemeralmessage may be set by the message sender. Alternatively, the access timemay be a default setting or a setting specified by the recipient.Regardless of the setting technique, the message is transitory.

“MACHINE-READABLE MEDIUM” in this context refers to a component, deviceor other tangible media able to store instructions and data temporarilyor permanently and may include, but is not be limited to, random-accessmemory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory,optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types of storage(e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and/or anysuitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” shouldbe taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers)able to store instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shallalso be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media,that is capable of storing instructions (e.g., code) for execution by amachine, such that the instructions, when executed by one or moreprocessors of the machine, cause the machine to perform any one or moreof the methodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readablemedium” refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as“cloud-based” storage systems or storage networks that include multiplestorage apparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium”excludes signals per se.

“COMPONENT” in this context refers to a device, physical entity or logichaving boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branchpoints, application program interfaces (APIs), or other technologiesthat provide for the partitioning or modularization of particularprocessing or control functions. Components may be combined via theirinterfaces with other components to carry out a machine process. Acomponent may be a packaged functional hardware unit designed for usewith other components and a part of a program that usually performs aparticular function of related functions. Components may constituteeither software components (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readablemedium) or hardware components. A “hardware component” is a tangibleunit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured orarranged in a certain physical manner. In various example embodiments,one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, aclient computer system, or a server computer system) or one or morehardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a groupof processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware component that operates to performcertain operations as described herein. A hardware component may also beimplemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combinationthereof. For example, a hardware component may include dedicatedcircuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certainoperations. A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor,such as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may alsoinclude programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configuredby software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardwarecomponent may include software executed by a general-purpose processoror other programmable processor. Once configured by such software,hardware components become specific machines (or specific components ofa machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and areno longer general-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that thedecision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicatedand permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configuredcircuitry (e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and timeconsiderations. Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” (or“hardware-implemented component”) should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardwarecomponents are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware components need not be configured or instantiated at any oneinstance in time. For example, where a hardware component comprises ageneral-purpose processor configured by software to become aspecial-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may beconfigured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g.,comprising different hardware components) at different times. Softwareaccordingly configures a particular processor or processors, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware component at one instanceof time and to constitute a different hardware component at a differentinstance of time. Hardware components can provide information to, andreceive information from, other hardware components. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware components may be regarded as being communicativelycoupled. Where multiple hardware components exist contemporaneously,communications may be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., overappropriate circuits and buses) between or among two or more of thehardware components. In embodiments in which multiple hardwarecomponents are configured or instantiated at different times,communications between such hardware components may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware components have access. Forexample, one hardware component may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at alater time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware components may also initiate communications with inputor output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation). The various operations of example methods described hereinmay be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implementedcomponents that operate to perform one or more operations or functionsdescribed herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component”refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors.Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processorsmay also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an Application ProgramInterface (API)). The performance of certain of the operations may bedistributed among the processors, not only residing within a singlemachine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some exampleembodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may bedistributed across a number of geographic locations.

“PROCESSOR” in this context refers to any circuit or virtual circuit (aphysical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor)that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g.,“commands”. “op codes”, “machine code”, etc.) and which producescorresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine. Aprocessor may, for example, be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), aReduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a ComplexInstruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit(GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC)or any combination thereof. A processor may further be a multi-coreprocessor having two or more independent processors (sometimes referredto as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously.

“TIMESTAMP” in this context refers to a sequence of characters orencoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, forexample giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a smallfraction of a second.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: causing display of apresentation of a message at a first position among a message feed at aclient device, the message comprising an identifier associated with asender of the message; receiving a request to open the message from theclient device, the request including a timestamp; detecting a triggerevent based on at least the timestamp of the request to open themessage, the trigger event comprising event attributes; accessing anavatar associated with the sender of the message, the avatar comprisinga plurality of graphical elements; configuring the plurality ofgraphical elements of the avatar based on the event attributes of thetrigger event; generating a notification that includes a display of theavatar based on the configuring the plurality of the graphical elementsof the avatar based on at least the event attributes of the triggerevent; moving the presentation of the message from the first positionamong the message feed to a second position among the message feed; andapplying the notification to the presentation of the message.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the message comprises message content, andthe detecting the trigger event includes: identifying a trigger criteriawithin the message content of the message; and determining a period oftime from the request to open the message transgresses a threshold valuebased on the timestamp.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the messagecontent comprises a text string, and the trigger criteria includes aglyph within the text string.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein themessage comprises message content, the message content including a wordcount, and the detecting the trigger event includes: determining theword count of the message transgresses a threshold value; anddetermining a threshold period of time from the request to open themessage has passed based on the timestamp.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the method further comprises: receiving an input that dismissesthe notification; and moving the presentation of the message from thesecond position among the message feed to the first position among themessage feed.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the detecting thetrigger event includes: causing the client device to initiate loadingmessage content of the message in response to the request to open themessage; and detecting an error responsive to the causing the clientdevice to initiate the loading the message content.
 7. A systemcomprising: a memory; and at least one hardware processor coupled to thememory and comprising instructions that causes the system to performoperations comprising: causing display of a presentation of a message ata first position among a message feed at a client device, the messagecomprising an identifier associated with a sender of the message;receiving a request to open the message from the client device, therequest including a timestamp; detecting a trigger event based on atleast the timestamp of the request to open the message, the triggerevent comprising event attributes; accessing an avatar associated withthe sender of the message, the avatar comprising a plurality ofgraphical elements; configuring the plurality of graphical elements ofthe avatar based on the event attributes of the trigger event;generating a notification that includes a display of the avatar based onthe configuring the plurality of the graphical elements of the avatarbased on at least the event attributes of the trigger event; moving thepresentation of the message from the first position among the messagefeed to a second position among the message feed; and applying thenotification to the presentation of the message.
 8. The system of claim7, wherein the message comprises message content, and the detecting thetrigger event includes: identifying a trigger criteria within themessage content of the message; and determining a period of time fromthe request to open the message transgresses a threshold value based onthe timestamp.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein the message contentcomprises a text string, and the trigger criteria includes a glyphwithin the text string.
 10. The system of claim 7, wherein the messagecomprises message content, the message content including a word count,and the detecting the trigger event includes: determining the word countof the message transgresses a threshold value; and determining athreshold period of time from the request to open the message has passedbased on the timestamp.
 11. The system of claim 7, wherein theoperations further comprise: receiving an input that dismisses thenotification; and moving the presentation of the message from the secondposition among the message feed to the first position among the messagefeed.
 12. The system of claim 7, wherein the detecting the trigger eventincludes: causing the client device to initiate loading message contentof the message in response to the request to open the message; anddetecting an error responsive to the causing the client device toinitiate the loading the message content.
 13. A non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine toperform operations comprising: causing display of a presentation of amessage at a first position among a message feed at a client device, themessage comprising an identifier associated with a sender of themessage; receiving a request to open the message from the client device,the request including a timestamp; detecting a trigger event based on atleast the timestamp of the request to open the message, the triggerevent comprising event attributes; accessing an avatar associated withthe sender of the message, the avatar comprising a plurality ofgraphical elements; configuring the plurality of graphical elements ofthe avatar based on the event attributes of the trigger event;generating a notification that includes a display of the avatar based onthe configuring the plurality of the graphical elements of the avatarbased on at least the event attributes of the trigger event; moving thepresentation of the message from the first position among the messagefeed to a second position among the message feed; and applying thenotification to the presentation of the message.
 14. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the messagecomprises message content, and the detecting the trigger event includes:identifying a trigger criteria within the message content of themessage; and determining a period of time from the request to open themessage transgresses a threshold value based on the timestamp.
 15. Thenon-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein themessage content comprises a text string, and the trigger criteriaincludes a glyph within the text string.
 16. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the messagecomprises message content, the message content including a word count,and the detecting the trigger event includes: determining the word countof the message transgresses a threshold value; and determining athreshold period of time from the request to open the message has passedbased on the timestamp.
 17. The non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium of claim 13, wherein the operations further comprise: receivingan input that dismisses the notification; and moving the presentation ofthe message from the second position among the message feed to the firstposition among the message feed.